


Hard Lessons (Fallout 3)

by Decaykid



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Gen, Homophobic Language, Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 06:04:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6272728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Decaykid/pseuds/Decaykid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Subtlety is lost on some people...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hard Lessons (Fallout 3)

"You got somethin' to say to me, kid?"

She bristles at the name.

"I'm not a kid." She says sternly, squaring her shoulders as she levels a steady gaze at Jericho. He looks fairly unimpressed, seems all to happy to shrug off... whatever this exchange is, that is, until he catches eye of her traveling companion hanging behind. A sneer slowly curves Jericho's lips.

" S' what, you think cause you've done a few things, cause you've seen a few things that makes you all grown up? Believe me girlie, the amount of blood on your hands ain't got nothin' to do with bein' an adult, kid."

She crosses her arms indignantly as she shifts her weight to her foot and juts her hip out.

"You think cause I grew up in the Vault, that I didn't have to grow up out here in the Wastes, fighting for survival like a rabid dog, that that automatically makes me naïve? Well let me tell you something buddy, I am _not_ a child anymore, I've had to make decisions these past few weeks that some 'adults' will never make in their lifetime."

She points a steady finger at him.

"I am a woman. Not a girl."

He sneers into his cup.

"What difference does it make? I still have no interest in being your little traveling buddy."

She crosses her arms again with a _'hmph'_.

"This isn't about that Jericho. Besides, I have somebody."

He takes the opportunity to get a better look at the boy hanging back in the shadows. Despite the distance, the boy seems to be very much in tune with their conversation.

"Ha! Him? A _woman_ such as yourself needs a man. Looks like he can't handle a strung-out Raider, much less a _beasts_ in the Wastes."

Even from here he can see the boy's shoulders tense. The girl however simply rolls her eyes.

"Whatever Jericho. Your petty insults won't work." She glances over her shoulder.

"C'mon Butch," she calls to the shadows, "we're going home."

He watches as they walk by. The boy- Butch, doesn't even cast a glance in his direction as he walks by. Jericho shakes his head.

"Pussy." He says, just loud enough for he and Butch to hear but quiet enough to not fall on the Lone Wanderer's ears. Once again he sees the line of his shoulders draw tense, but he keeps walking.

~*~

"Who the fuck is that asshole?" Butch asks as he retrieves two Nuka-Colas from the machine as the Lone Wanderer plops herself down on the couch after turning on the jukebox.

"Jericho. He's actually my next door neighbor. believe it or not, he's not that bad. He helped me out when I first came here."

"Yeah, I bet." Butch mumbles, busying himself with removing the caps as he leans against the railing. "What was he talking about? What offer?"

"Well," she says, brows furrowing in that disapproving way as she watches Butch use his switchblade to pop the caps off. He hands her her drink, "thanks. After I got settled in but before I'd really done anything, besides help Moira with that damned book, I asked Jericho if he wanted to travel around with me. Thought it'd be nice to have someone who knew the place, knew how things worked on the surface land."

"And what- he turned you down?"

"Yeah, pretty much." She says before taking a sip of the Nuka-Cola. Butch swirls his own drink around, suddenly not having a taste for it.

The two sit there for sometime with only Three Dog to break the silence as the Lone Wanderer sips her drink. Once her bottle is an empty glass, she stands from the couch with a stretch.

"I'm going to bed. I'd like to stop at Moira's and sell a few things before we head back out tomorrow. Don't wanna be up late."

Too engrossed in his thoughts, his only response is a nod. She offers a friendly smile before walking off into her room. Butch continues to stand there leaning against the railing. It isn't until the jungle song starts playing for the second time that he sets his half drunk Nuka-Cola beside the Lone Wanderer's empty one before heading downstairs and out the door.

He pops the collar of his jacket once he enters the night; it's not cold, but he's feeling somewhat vulnerable. He walks down the steep makeshift path to the bottom of the crater that Megaton resides in, but he stops just before rounding the corner to the front of the Brass Lantern, he can hear Jericho not-so-subtelty flirting with jenny, who doesn't seem too keen on his advances. The Nuka-Cola turns sour in Butch's stomach and he crams his hands into his pockets as he quickly backtracks. He'll just have to get to Moriarty's the long way.

~*~

"Whaddya want smoothskin?"

"Uh, whiskey."

Butch keeps his eyes on the countertop. While he doesn't have much of a problem with the ghoul, it's clear the ghoul has an issue with him., and Butch is willing to do whatever it takes to get drunk- and that includes cooperating with zombie boy.

Gob places Butch's drink on the counter and he in turn tosses over a few caps.

"Hey, keep a tab runnin' will ya?"

The ghoul makes a deep, throaty noise.

"I don't know if the boss-"

"I'm with the Lone Wanderer. I'm good."

He feels bad, using her like that, throwing her name around like that, and she'll be unhappy with him when he has to explain to her why he needs to borrow some caps... but he really needs this right now. To just forget everything for a while. Gob looks at him uncertainly, eyeing the Vault suit and leather jacket as he nervously fidgets with his hands.

"Okay, fine." he whispers gruffly. "But you and the caps better be here first thing tomorrow morning."

Butch sighs in relief. Feeling at ease, he takes his glass and eagerly takes a sip of the alcohol- and nearly chokes on it. _'Ugh. It tastes like piss.'_ It's a far cry from the alcohol at the Muddy Rudder, but he's in Megaton, not Rivet City, and he'll just have to make do.

As it turns out, it gets easier to drink somewhere during the third glass as the lines between him and the world begin to blur and his tongue is too fuzzy to taste the difference. he places a few more caps on the counter.

"One more, please." Damn, he's almost out of caps and he's only managed a buzz. Moriarty must water everything down to save money. Cheap bastard.

Gob takes the caps, replaces them with another whiskey glass and a heavy sigh as the door opens.

"Ugly. Usual."

Just like that, the warm pleasant haze enveloping Butch disappears as he bristles at the voice.

Jericho.

He just can't seem to get away from him. Butch suddenly feels that burn-itch sensation of eyes boring into his back and he has the urge to fidget. He swirls his glass, watching the contents slosh about as if it's the most interesting thing he's ever seen, to avoid acknowledging the presence taking the seat next to him. Gob brings Jericho's order over, glances between the two men then hastily shuffles away to wipe away at the further end of the counter. It's quiet between the two until Butch is nearly done with his drink.

"Wouldna imagined a nancy boy like you in a place like this." Jericho says, sneering into his glass.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Butch says into his own drink. Jericho chuckles. It's raspy and half-assed and somehow pisses Butch off.

"You think you've got everyone fooled, pretty boy?" Jericho says, this time casting a sideways glance, though Butch ignores him, keeping his eyes on Gob as if to mentally will the ghoul to come over with another drink. If Gob can feel Butch staring at him, he doesn't show it.

"Hey. Walking corpse! Get over here."

Gob, fussing at the register, stops what he's doing and reluctantly makes his way over.

"Are you blind? Did the radiation kill your eyes? Can't you see his glass is empty?"

Gob glances from Jericho to Butch who sheepishly shrugs. Without another word, Gob takes the empty glass. Butch watches Gob as he fills up the glass before returning- anything to keep him from looking at the man beside him. After setting the glass down, Gob looks at Butch expectantly.

"It's on me." Jericho says gruffly. As Butch stares at the whiskey his stomach churns, maybe he's had more to drink than he realized.

"Chicken shit," Jericho says once Gob has left, "couldn't even order your own drink. I don't know why that girl keeps you around. Does she wipe your ass for you as well?"

Butch's hands turn into fists. His breathing gets hard to control, the thrumming of his rapid heart beat accelerates to a ringing in his ears and he's on his feet taking a swing at the man before he realizes what he's doing.

Despite what everyone thinks, Butch isn't stupid. Yes, he got into a lot of trouble as a kid and did a lot of stupid shit, but it wasn't because he didn't know better, rather he let his emotions get the best of him. He knows he could never take Jericho, a man with the eyes of a killer. He knows he doesn't have the experience of an ex-assassin or raider or whatever shit he did, hell, he knows he can't keep up with the Lone Wanderer. But in the moment, he'd become fed up. He couldn't stand to hear another word from that man, he just wanted to shut him up. His emotions got the better of him, as always. And as always, there are repercussions of his poor decisions making. He just didn't expect this one to come 3.2 seconds later when he finds himself being tossed out of the bar not by Gob or Moriarty, but Jericho himself.

He barely has time to get to his feet before Jericho picks him up by the front of his jumpsuit and drags him to the railing of the walkway. He's slammed into it, and as Jericho wraps his thick, calloused fingers around Butch's neck, Butch begins to wonder if he's going to be tossed over the side. He can feel his chest ache as his throat tightens- an anxiety attack. Suddenly he's eight years old, kicking and screaming for his mom to get off him. Jericho suddenly releases his throat, grabs him by the vault suit again and throws him against the wall.

"You're so blind boy, you can't even see."

Butch sucks air in through clenched teeth, relieved to breathe again, he doesn't bother fighting back.

"I ain't shit to that girl, 'sides someone else who needs to be saved, and she ain't nothing to me, 'sides someone who needs to be protected, 'cause people need someone like her."

Jericho pulls Butch from the wall only to slam him up against it again.

"And you, you're own insecurities turned it into somethin' else. You're too weak, too scared of loosin' her that you'd let her walk away."

Jericho releases Butch's vault suit, only to curl his fingers into his jaw.

"I saw the way you looked at her, when you thought she was gonna leave you."

The fingers curl tighter, his short blunt nails dig into Butch's skin.

"You wanna be what she needs? Start by telling her how you feel."

Jericho releases him for good before lightly patting the side of Butch's face. He turns to head back into the bar, pauses, and turns heel to point threateningly at Butch.

"Oh, and if you ever try to hit me again, you'll be receiving your hand in a box next birthday."


End file.
